The present invention relates generally to footwear and more particularly to footwear having a recess in a heel cup for accommodating rearwardly projecting features of a foot.
In typical footwear, a counter positioned at the back of the footwear surrounds the heel to retain the foot in position inside the footwear when walking or running. As the foot moves inside the footwear, the counter exerts pressure on features of the heel including the calcaneus (i.e., the heel bone), the Achilles tendon, and the bursae adjacent the tendon. The heel also moves relative to the counter, causing friction between the counter and the skin in the region of the heel. Sometimes the pressure and friction cause ailments such as bursitis and Achilles tendinitis, as well as swelling and irritation of the skin and underlying tissue. Some conventional footwear includes extra padding in the counter to alleviate these ailments. However, the padding wears out over time and becomes less effective in alleviating the ailments. Moreover, the extra padding in conventional footwear is not precisely anatomically positioned for alleviating the ailments.
Another problem associated with conventional footwear is that it does not conform to the structure of the foot because counters of conventional footwear are not shaped like a heel. The rearward end of the heel bone is angled so that the lateral (i.e., outside) portion of the heel bone extends farther rearward than the medial (i.e., inside) portion. Moreover, the Achilles tendon and adjacent bursae extend farther rearward on the lateral side of the heel due to the angled rearward end of the heel bone. Thus, the structure of the foot is not symmetric. However, conventional counters are symmetric about a central longitudinal axis of the shoe. Because conventional footwear is not shaped to accommodate the heel, particularly the rearward lateral portion of the heel bone and the Achilles tendon and adjacent bursae, the ailments discussed above are more likely to occur. The present invention takes into account the structure of the foot to reduce the likelihood of such ailments.